Critic Reviews

History is retold through the people that win, but stiff competition always means evolution for an industry. Atari may have won in the end but many gamers have fond memories of the 80's system that wasn't Atari. Compilations like this are a valuable addition to any serious player's games library; their value strives to shine through the historical importance of the system and its games. Intellivision Lives! on the GameCube is a faithful compilation that remains true to its roots and won't disappoint videogame archeologists.

Despite a clunky menu and inflexible control layouts, it cannot be denied that Intellivision Lives! does what it says on the tin: present a nice slice of classic gaming goodness for hard-core retro gamers. There's a massive library of classic Intellivision games on offer, many of which will provide a quality gaming experience even by today's standards. If you're a fan of the original system, like old 8-bit console games or just want to experience some vintage video gaming for the first time, it's well worth tracking this one down. Long live Intellivision!

Silly music and controller headaches aside, Intellivision Lives! does a fine job of compiling a huge number of games into one package and presenting them in an easy-to-pick-up manner. While the Intellivision definitely wasn't as popular as the Atari 2600, those who owned one or played one at a friend's house will definitely enjoy being able to play those games again. If you've played Activision Anthology, you might smirk from the sheer number of similarities the two compilations have in common. Although the collection may be a rip-off in some aspects, any gamer looking to relive the days of when gaming began will definitely enjoy Intellivision Lives!

For 20 bucks, it's definitely worth it to relive some of gaming's past. But while Intellivision Lives accurately represents the look and sound of what gamers were playing on the system, it doesn't accurately represent the actual Intellivision experience. The only way this would be possible is with an actual Intellivision controller; the pull-up menu and right-analog "simulation" of the keypad just don't work for the twitch games. The amount of games and the retrospective elements: good. The horrible controls: extremely bad. To rectify this, someone needs to create a third-party Intellivision controller. Anyone up to the task?